"Since we started OpenStack we have seen a ton of momentum, but one thing we've heard is that while people love open source software, they really want some[one] to stand behind it," said Mark Collier, vice president of marketing and business development at Rackspace.

Collier explained that Rackspace will work with partners such as Canonical and Citrix that will develop the software distributions, while his company will focus on the support and services side.